‘Yoga is a commonly known generic term for physical, mental, and spiritual disciplines which originated in ancient India.’ As mentioned in Wikipedia,Yoga

But it was only in the 19th century that yoga was introduced to Western nations. According to Wikipedia, ‘Literal meaning of the Sanskrit word yoga which is "yoke", "to join", "to unite", or "to attach" from the root yuj’.

- Iyengar Yoga: B.S.K Iyengar founded this form of yoga where attention is given to proper alignment of the body.

- Vinyasa Yoga: Vinyasa yoga involves easy movement of action.

- Bikram Yoga or Hot Yoga: This yoga is performed in a heated room, and you are sure to test your physical and mental capabilities.

- Kundalini Yoga: In Kundalini yoga breathing is in conjunction to the movements.

- Anusara Yoga: Anusara yoga is all about making you feel good from within.

Yoga for Health: How yoga keeps you fit and healthy

Everything we do calls for stress and constant running around. In the middle of all this chaos, yoga is a great way to connect with your inner self and stay healthy at the same time. Through its deep breathing, stretching, mindful exercise, yoga is also an effective method to keep most stress-related diseases at bay.

In fact, no matter what your lifestyle, you could learn a thing or two from this ancient exercise form that benefits your mind and body, both.

Yoga for Health: Why you must start yoga today

Yoga is more than just exercise - it is a physiological and emotional process that leads to strengthening your body. An ancient practice that brings the mind and body together in complete harmony, yoga is increasingly becoming a crucial part of city life. Here's why you must start yoga today.

According to our Fitness coach Arnav Sarkar, yoga - as a form of activity - has a lot to offer to its practitioners in terms of mental, physical and spiritual benefits. For eg it is known to reduce stress, improve flexibility, creates a sense of mental well being, etc. For those who are old or have been bed ridden for a long time, it is a great way to begin since it does not break down the body as much as some other vigorous forms of activities do.

Yoga for Health: Is yoga better than strength training?

Is yoga better than strength training? Do we know which of the two fitness disciplines is more effective for modern day fitness needs such as preventing lifestyle diseases and effective weight management? Experts say it is unfair to consider either yoga or strength training as superior or inferior to each other. Strength and fitness coach, Arnav Sarkar, says, “Both have certain benefits that they alone provide best, and both have certain shortcomings which require practicing the other”.

Yoga for Health: Yoga and core strength

How does yoga really help in strengthening my core?

Yoga postures – Take almost any yoga posture, how well you are able to emulate these poses almost always depends on how strong your core is.

Yoga stretches – Doing this will make you far less susceptible to injuries and will allow you to push your body more during weight training and/ or running.

Breathing – Yoga teaches you techniques of how to breathe in a way that promotes lung capacity, clears blockages and even clenches and unclenches stomach muscles.

Yoga for Health: Yoga improves your sex life

Breathing exercises help you relax, and when you’re de-stressed sex becomes that much more interesting, don’t you think? What's more, yoga increases your self-awareness and personal comfort levels, while making you more empathic towards your partner’s sexual needs.

Yoga for Health: Can pregnant women practice yoga?

Practicing yoga during pregnancy can help you to maintain flexibility, balance and tone your muscles. Dr. Shilpa says, practicing yoga under the supervision of an instructor is safe, just make sure to stop certain poses if you feel uncomfortable. Practicing yoga during pregnancy will also help you to kick out pregnancy related stress from your mind and body and will prepare you for labour. Yoga is beneficial for pregnancy because it improves stamina and also teaches you to abandon pain and discomfort. Since, yoga helps you to relax areas of tension it is a great technique to know during delivery and labour pain.

Yoga for Health: How yoga eases pain

In a US study, researchers have linked improvement in chronic back pain and yoga. It took 200 adults with lower back pain three months to ease their pain. It was a far better option than medication. Researchers believe that stretching in yoga improves the condition of the lower back, giving you relief.

How yoga helps arthritis

In another study conducted in UAE it was revealed that Raj yoga can reduce the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis. The participants that completed 12 sessions of Raj yoga, that included yoga exercises and breathing techniques showed great improvement. Researchers believe this could well be the answer for easing out rheumatoid arthritis in the long run. Another bonus point includes that Raj yoga reduces the level of anxiety present in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Yoga for Health: How is yoga related to meditation?

‘Meditation is one limb of the yoga philosophy. While power yoga has taken over the world with its promises of quick weight loss and toned abs, let’s not forget that yoga came into being to help yogis concentrate on meditation. They couldn’t really think about what to cook for dinner while standing on one foot for hours now could they? Yoga also stretched out their limbs to make it easier for them to sit in a meditative posture for hours.’

Yoga for Health: Kirtan Kriya Meditation good for beating stress

Practising Kirtan Kriya, a meditation chant exercise originating from Kundalini Yoga, for just 12 minutes daily for eight weeks, led to a easing of the biological mechanisms behind a spike in the immune system's inflammation response.

Inflammation, which is caused by how our immune system responds to illness, infection, bacterial or viral attack, if constantly activated, can contribute to a multitude of chronic health problems, the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology reports.

Yoga for Health: What is yogalates?

Firstly Rashmi Ramesh, our yoga expert explains yoga and pilates as two different entities to give you an indepth perspective. She says, “Yoga is an ancient practice that works on the union of Body, Breath and Mind. Pilates is an exercise technique that works on core strengthening and toning.”

Which brings us to what is yogalates? “If you combine the two, you get YogaLates which is a great combination to give you a toned supple and healthy body and a stress free mind,” explains our yoga guru.

Yoga for Health: What are the health benefits of yogalates?

We know the benefits of yoga – physically and mentally and the benefits of pilates – strengthens your body, improves breathing, posture and burns calories. As for the health benefits of yogalates, Rashmi lists them out, “Yogalates is very effective for weight-loss, toning, back and spine related problems, osteoporosis, arthritis, diabetes and menstrual problems. It improves flexibility and strengthens the body.”

Yoga for Health: Power yoga for Weight loss

Power yoga has gained popularity around the world because it gives you a whole body workout, with flexibility, toning, strength building, and functional movements and also elicits properties of what a good aerobics or cardio session can do. Power yoga is one of the most modern forms of yoga as it has adapted to taking all the learnings of yoga and uniting them with today’s more urgent need of weight loss and fitness, by making yoga upbeat and current.

Yoga for Health: Restorative yoga for better sleep

Struggling for a few hours of sleep every night? You should give yoga a shot. Restorative yoga is regarded as one of the best cures for insomnia as it helps relax your mind and body to induce better sleep. Moreover, the deep breathing techniques and gentle stretching helps better regulate your body's systems. This improves the supply of oxygen and blood to your brain. However, be sure to consult your physician prior to adopting any yoga session for insomnia in case the root cause of your sleep-related problem is deeper than mere stress or anxiety.

Yoga for Health: Power yoga

Power yoga is a form of yoga that moulds the traditional form of yoga to suit modern lifestyle fitness needs. Essentially, it is a hybrid form of yoga where east-meets-west - a combination of many fitness components like strength, function and flexibility.

The power yoga principle. Power yoga is based predominantly on flexibility and strength components. This is a dynamic and rhythmic workout. Some postures are isolated whereas some have pulse movements. It’s designed to spike up the heart rate to burn calories.

Yoga for Health: Suryanamaskars

Suryanamaskar or the Indian ritual of saluting the sun comprises a rhythmic combination of yogic postures and breathing exercises. The complete series includes 12 basic postures performed in cyclical pattern to benefit all three levels of human consciousness: Physical, mental and spiritual. However, for beginners to understand the true significance and impact of each position, the entire series should be broken down and practiced one posture at a time.

Rashmi Ramesh shares an insight, “Traditionally Suryanamaskar is best performed facing east, the direction of the rising sun in the early hours of the morning.”

Yoga for Health: Improve back pain

"Practicing yoga to improve posture or to improve back pain is completely safe," says Dr. Sunita. She adds, "If a person suffers from chronic back pain, then it is best to consult a doctor before starting yoga. Consult a doctor not because yoga is dangerous but in order to prevent internal injuries from certain yoga poses."

She states further: "Yes practicing yoga is safe and can help to releive back pain. But if your doctor has advised some medication, do not replace medication with yoga; instead, continue using both for best results.”

Yoga for Health: Breath Right and Eliminate toxin with Kapalbhati

Kapalbhati Pranayam yoga is also known as breathing yoga. It improves the oxygen circulation throughout the body. It enhances the intake of oxygen and exhalation of carbon dioxide from the body. It also improves the working of lungs and other respiratory organs. Improvement in breathing improves the action of other body parts also as proper oxygen content is necessary for overall body functioning.